Sociology 2014_web

GENDER AND SEXUALITYPornography and SerialityThe Culture of Producing PleasureSarah Schaschek, American Institute for Foreign Studies,Germany"In a surprising and astute move, Sarah Schaschekuses the most 'boring' aspects of pornography- its repetitions of the same sex acts, gestures,and affects - as a way to better understand therepetitions, seemingly the same, but always with aslight difference, of seriality itself. Thinking aboutpornography through the lens of seriality, Schaschekreminds us that the essence of all mass culturalproduction adheres to rhythmic processes of copyingand reproduction." - Linda Williams, author of HardCore: Power, Pleasure and the Frenzy of the Visible(1989/1999) and Porn Studies (2004)Repetition and seriality are inherent in pornography and is constitutive for itsfunctionality as a film genre, an industry, and an area of gender studies. By linkingthe styles of the genre to processes of serial production, consumption, anddiscussion, Schaschek questions the dominant assumptions about pornographyand the stability of the genre.Contents: 1. Seductive Seriality: The Genre of Pornography and its Affective Structure * 2. FuckingMachines Or The Fantasy of Bodily Efficiency * 3. The State of Open Being: Polyamorous Filmsand the Figure of the Slut * 4. A Thousand Little Deaths: Episodes and ‘Traumatized Narratives’ *5. Nostalgia: Strategies of Imitation in Queer Pornography * The Final EpisodeDecember 2013 UKDecember 2013 US232 pp 10 b/w illustrationsHardback £59.50 / $95.00 / CN$109.00 9781137363121Canadian Rightsebooks availableGender and Welfare States in East AsiaConfucianism or Gender Equality?Edited by Sirin Sung, Queen’s University Belfast, UK,Gillian Pascall, University of Nottingham, UKContributors address questions about gender equalityin a Confucian context across a wide and varied socialpolicy landscape, from Korea and Taiwan, whereConfucian culture is deeply embedded, throughChina, with its transformations from Confucianismto communism and back, to the mixed culturalenvironments of Hong Kong and Japan.Contents: 1. Introduction: Gender and Welfare States in EastAsia; Sirin Sung and Gillian Pascall * 2. Work-family Balance Issuesand Policies in Korea: Towards an Egalitarian Regime?; Sirin Sung* 3. Rhetoric or Reality? Peripheral Status of Women’s Bureauxin the Korean Gender Regime; Sook-Yeon Won * 4. Continuityand Change: Comparing Work and Care Reconciliation of Two Generations of Women inTaiwan; Jessie Wu * 5. Gender, Social Policy and Older Women with Disabilities in Rural China;Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher and Ping Guo * 6. Confucian Welfare: A barrier to the GenderMainstreaming of Domestic Violence Policy in Hong Kong; Lai Ching Leung * 7. Emerging CultureWars: Backlash Against ‘Gender Freedom’; Kimio Ito * 8. Prime Ministers’ Discourse in Japan’sReforms since the 1980s: Traditionalization of Modernity rather than Confucianism; Emiko Ochiaiand Kenichi Johshita * 9. Conclusion: Confucianism or Gender Equality?; Gillian Pascall and SirinSungJanuary 2014 UKJanuary 2014 US216 pp 15 figures, 9 b/w tablesHardback £58.00 / $105.00 / CN$121.00 9780230279087Canadian Rightsebooks availableThe Shriver ReportA Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the BrinkMaria Shriver and the Center for American Progress;Edited by Olivia Morgan and Karen SkeltonThe Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Backfrom the Brink asks—and answers—big questions.Why are millions of women financially vulnerablewhen others have made such great progress? Why aremillions of women struggling to make ends meet eventhough they are hard at work? What is it about ournation—government, business, family, and even womenthemselves—that drives women to the financial brink?And what is at stake? To answer these questions, weexamined in detail three major cultural and economicchanges over the past 50 years.Contents: Opening * Foreword * Part I: How We Got Here * Power * Powerful and Powerless *The Workplace * A Woman’s Place is in the Middle Class * The Family * Marriage, Motherhood,and Men * Education * Get Smart: A 21st Century Education * Part II: Why We Must Push Back *The Consequences of Living on the Brink * Part III: Solutions * Public Solutions * Putting WomenAt the Center of Policymaking: Public Solutions to Help Women Push Back From the Brink *Private Solutions * Private Solutions: What If Employers Put Women at the Center of TheirWorkplace Policies? * Personal Solutions * Personal Action, Collective Impact * Part IV: WhereDo We Go From Here * Where Do We Go From Here? * Epilogue * Appendix * Failure to Adapt toChanging Families Leaves Women Economically VulnerableApril 2014 UKMarch 2014 US432 pp 100 photographsPaperback £12.99 / $20.00 / CN$23.00 9781137279743Canadian RightsGirlfriends and Postfeminist SisterhoodAlison Winch, Middlesex University, UK"Alison Winch explores the deep and complexemotions involved in female friendships and howthese are exploited by brands, television formatsand film narratives to tie us into a competitive andunequal consumer culture. By recognising the sourceof negative as well as positive emotions betweenwomen, a more effective political movement could beachieved to counteract this exploitation, she suggests.The book expertly updates and builds on postfeministscholarly research through close attention to recentpopular culture. It makes a compelling argument,challenging established assumptions about the waygirls and women are portrayed and how we, in turn,respond." - Jane Arthurs, Middlesex University, UKFrom Mean Girl to BFF, Girlfriends and Postfeminist Sisterhood explores femalesociality in postfeminist popular culture. Focusing on a range of media forms, AlisonWinch reveals how women are increasingly encouraged to strategically bond bycontrolling each other's body image through 'the girlfriend gaze'.Contents: Introduction: Girlfriend Culture and the Gynaeopticon * 1. The Girlfriend Gaze * 2. BFFCo-Brands * 3. Strategic Sisterhoods * 4. Womance * 5. Making White Lives Better? * 6. Catfight* 7. Class and British Reality Television * 8. The Friendship Market * Conclusion: Feminism,Friendship and Conflicted Feelings * BibliographyNovember 2013 UKNovember 2013 US232 ppHardback £50.00 / $85.00 / CN$132.00 9780230348752Canadian Rightsebooks available38